NCAA Div 1 Women: Florida Finishes Winning Ways At SMU Classic

Dallas, Tex, October 26. AFTER winning all seven events during the second day of the SMU Classic, the University of Florida women's swimming and diving team claimed first place Saturday with 360.5 points. SMU finished second with 303, followed by Indiana (252), Washington (239), South Carolina(234.5) and TCU (196).

Florida won 13 of 18 events during the two-day meet.

Florida's 400-yard freestyle relay team started the night off finishing first with a time of 3:23.94. Senior Sara McLarty (DeLand, Fla.) widened the Gator lead by setting a meet and pool record in the next event, the 500-yard freestyle, with a time of 4:43.42. McLarty's time broke SMU's Flavia Rigamonti pool record of 4:44.35 set last spring, and former Virginia swimmer Dawn Heckman's meet record of 4:48.99 set in 1998. McLarty was chosen the "Outstanding Swimmer" for the meet.

The Gators recorded two NCAA qualifying marks during Saturday's competition. Sophomore Vipa Bernhardt (Bad Hersfeld, Germany) swam a NCAA qualifying mark in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:1370) en route to a first place finish. Senior Nicole Bolt (Orlando, Fla.) placed second on the three-meter with a NCAA qualifying score of 271.90.

Other event winners included junior Maureen Farrell (Northridge, Calif.), who finished first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:00.85. Senior Jaime Ellis (Spring, Texas) won the 100-yard freestyle (51.30) and McLarty won the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.13). The Gators also won the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:34.51).